Saturday, May 8, 2010

We're movin' on up

Thanks for checking in with us. Rockett Mansion's Art book has moved to www.rockettmansion.com/art_book/. We'd love to see you there so swing on by. We hope you enjoy our new website http://www.rockettmansion.com/, too. We promise to continue to provide you with the content that's kept you coming back.

Best, Rockett Mansion

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Samantha Donnelly's Compendium

In The Vitrine Gallery's first ever exhibition, collage, sculpture and found objects come together to create a strange new world.

The Vitrine Gallery, situated in Bermondsey Square, is run by two artists Alys Williams and Rennard Milner and the space is entirely self-contained. It's situated along one side of the square as a shop front, allowing them to work full-time on their art and to run the space showcasing new artists. They are currently looking to focus on artists from outside the London scene and bring a fresh perspective into the mix. Also based in the square is the independent Shortwave Cinema and soon to come is an independent bookshop, making this a thriving place for the arts as they aim to bring together the creative elements of the square for events over the summer encompassing film, spoken word and visual arts.

Samantha Donnelly is the first artist to exhibit at Vitrine Gallery. Using elements of collage and sculpture, Samantha works with found objects creating delicate and surreal ‘sketches’. These three-dimensional collages are an aesthetic treat. Having exhibited alongside Rachael Whiteread and Cornelia Parker in Leeds as part of 2009’s group show Perhaps Everything, Perhaps Nothing and having her first solo show Silver Sheer at Liverpool’s Ceri Hand Gallery in the same year, Compendium marks Samantha Donnelly’s first solo London show.

Source: Dazed Digital

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Art + Altruism

I never thought I would say it but I'm actually starting to fall in love with Chicago. Sad I know, but I've always had "the grass is greener" syndrome when it came to my hometown. There are lots of great things going on here, especially in the areas of art, that make me glad I stayed. Here is a great place I've yet visited but am sure I'll enjoy.

Nestled in the area of Bridgeport where, aside from Pilsen, is one of the city's best-kept art secrets. With Zhou B. Art Center not too far away, Co-Prosperity Sphere (C-PS) is an experimental cultural center that is both electrifying and progressive. With their hands in non-profits, magazines and city festivals, this place is sure to be staple in the Chicago art scene for years to come.

The Co-PProsperity Sphere contains the offices of the Public Media Institute, their parent company that is a 501 (c)3 non profit arts organization. PMI helps produce the annual Version Festival, the city's best art festival, and Select Media Festival. Public Media Institute also produces the art magazines Proximity, Pr, Matériel and the (Con)Temporary Art Guide Chicago. C-PS is also the home of Lumpen magazine and the newsletter The Bridgeport International. They also have a few artist studios as well as an international artist residency program. They help facilitate two satellite spaces: Eastern Expansion and our newest space/project in Chicago’s loop, The (Con)Temporary Art Space.

For more info and upcoming shows, visit coprosperity.org

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Happy Accidents

Photographer Matt Stuart is exhibiting a decade worth of accidental moments captured in London.

In the midst of Hoxton Square - once the epitome of Shoreditch cool – photographer Matt Stuart is showing off nearly a decade worth of work. Not everything made it of course - only a few and well-selected images hang on the walls of the KK Outlet. But this isn’t your average East London cooler-than-thou fashion exhibition. This is about more than avant garde jewelry and ripped stockings. Go and see Stuart’s street photography and you will find yourself smiling and nodding in approval in regards to his humorous touch, and impressing patience.

Stuart has perfected the art of snapping the fleeting moments of everyday big city life. The sidewalks, the tube parks, shops – nowhere is safe from Stuart’s lurking lens. The result is an honest – and often amusing – take on the absurdity in which we live. Whether in black and white or using colour, Matt Stuart puts the fun back into photography.

Source: Dazed Digital

Friday, March 26, 2010

Bird's Eye View - Fashion Films

The only film festival in the world to celebrate female auteurs brings you the very best in cutting-edge fashion film.

The Birds Eye View festival, now in its sixth year, is a celebration of female filmmakers from around the world. For many the film industry is seen as the last bastion of the patriarchal social structure from which it arose. And although Bogart slapping some broad round the face is considered something of a faux pas by today’s standards, the portrayal of gender roles rife in Hollywood films – the ‘hero/damsel’ relation – seems depressingly archaic. This is of little surprise considering that out of the 311 nominations for Best Director in the history of the Oscars, only four have been female and if Kathryn Bigelow wins this year, she will be the first female to win the award. As well as various feature films being screened, including the fabulous The Hurt Locker, documentaries include a history of female matadors, a short season celebrating the brash and the bold of female Hollywood legends such as Marilyn Monroe and Marion Davies and the first feature-length animation ever made, The Adventure of Prince Achmed by Lotte Reineger. One of the most anticipated events is Fashion Loves Film, which presents videos by various fashion designers and photographers including Ruth Hogden, Camille Vivier, Mel Bles and Toyin and will be followed by a panel discussion co-hosted by Jaime Perlman (art director of British Vogue), Kathryn Ferguson and Wendy Bevan.

Source: Dazed Digital

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Red for Good

I'll be in the house...

I just wanted to let you all know about a fab event happening here in Chicago on Thursday, March 25th. Chicago-based HIV/AIDS non-profit The Red Pump Projectis celebrating their 1st birthday with a fashion show styled by Aramide Esubi of The Sassy Peach!

The event is from 6:00-9:00pm at Bottom Lounge on 1375 W. Lake St. Not only will designs by local designers & boutiques be showcased, but Emmy award winning HIV/AIDS activist Rae Lewis-Thornton will also be honored with a "Living Legacy" award.

We encourage you to join us & rock your red pumps! The cocktail hour begins at 6:00pm, & the fashion show begins at 7:00pm.

Tickets can be purchased through the event page at: http://rockred.eventbrite.com. VIP tickets are going fast, there are only 20 left which include a seat along the runway, 2 complimentary drink tickets & a swag bag.

Saturday, March 20, 2010

The Versitile

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways...

Available soon at www.rockettmansion.com

Friday, March 19, 2010

Crochetdermy

So, apparently I'm really into taxidermy but here's a more PETA-friendly version of the practice that's more recently been used as a medium for art. Shauna Richardson crochets these life-size animals. Sure, it sounds like something with bags of novelty value, but these are actually the product of years of research. "When I entered into art education I thought I would first get to the bottom of what art was, then study and practice it," she explains. "What followed was an obsessive three year attempt to find an answer to the question ‘what is art?’ During this time I devoured books, explored theories and attempted to push the boundaries of those theories to the limit. The fact that 'anything can be art’ is one popular theory. This contemporary concept has permitted artists to produce wide ranging work that includes audio pieces, gestures, text, actions, the void... I began searching for different directions to push the anything can be art theory."

Source: Dazed Digital

Thursday, March 11, 2010

WTF

These incredible 10” platform heels. Can you guess what the straw-like secret ingredient is? Dirt and hay? No, guess again. Granola bars? Nope. The answer: elephant dung. Shoe designer and former graffiti artist INSA was asked by Tate Britain to create an homage to Chris Ofili, the Turner Prize-winning, Nigerian-born, British artist with a retrospective currently on display at the venerable London art institution. Taking the task more seriously than you might think, INSA retraced the steps Ofili made 15 years ago and found pachyderm patties from the same family of elephants that produced the, um, material that the artist infamously varnished and added to his paintings in the nineties. With these works of art on your feet, you won't have to wonder what you stepped in. On display March 14.

Source: Hint Mag